Philadelphia Flyers' Defence & Goaltending: Season Preview
By Alan Bass
Time for a sneak peek at what's to come with the Flyers' defence and goaltending in the 2010-11 season.
Defence
Departures: Danny Syvret
Arrivals: Matt Walker, Sean O’Donnell, Andrej Meszaros
Look who’s new in the neighborhood!
The big acquisition, with regards to salary and cap hit, is Andrej Meszaros. However, the big acquisition, with regards to effect upon the team, is Sean O’Donnell. Though Meszaros was a highly-touted prospect in 2005-06 when he posted 39 points and a plus-34 rating as a rookie on the Ottawa Senators, his stats decreased almost every year, reaching a career low of 11 assists last season with Tampa Bay and a minus-14 rating that many defencemen would be ashamed of.
O’Donnell, on the other hand, served as a well-respected member of the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and Boston Bruins (in addition to brief stints with New Jersey, Minnesota and Phoenix). Known as a rugged, tough defensive defenceman, O’Donnell has not had a negative plus/minus rating since the 1996-97 season. In fact, last year he posted 15 points and a plus-14 rating with Los Angeles – including 70 penalty minutes. With almost 1700 career PIM, O’Donnell will intimidate opponents and help keep the puck out of the Flyers’ net.
Watch out for…
Ever since his first full season with the Philadelphia Flyers, Braydon Coburn’s points, goals and plus/minus have decreased significantly – from nine, 27, 36 and plus-17 in 2007-08 to five, 14, 19 and minus-6 last season. But Coburn has incredible talent – the former eighth overall pick of the Atlanta Thrashers was highly-touted in Atlanta, and the Alexei Zhitnik for Braydon Coburn trade that Paul Holmgren executed in 2007 was called one of the worst trades (for the Thrashers) in franchise history. Look for Coburn to bounce back and have a solid season, playing on the second defense pairing with either Kimmo Timonen or Andrej Meszaros.
What’s the outlook?
The Flyers have two star players in Timonen and Chris Pronger, a future Hall of Famer in Pronger, two solid defensive players in O’Donnell and Matt Carle and two wild cards in Meszaros and Coburn. They also have veteran Matt Walker and Oskars Bartulis waiting in the wins as the team’s seventh and eighth defensemen. The top-six of the Flyers is the best top-six in the league and has the potential to bring the Flyers back to the Stanley Cup final. If Coburn and Meszaros play to their full potential, there is no reason to think the Flyers won’t get even further than they did last year – dare I say bringing a particular silver trophy to the City of Brotherly Love?
Star power: A
Depth: A-
Toughness: A
Offence: B+
Goaltending
Departures: Ray Emery
Arrivals: None
Well that’s the million-dollar question…
Every year, fans, media and the entire hockey world asks, “Do the Flyers have the goaltending it takes to challenge for a Stanley Cup?” The team hasn’t had a franchise goaltender since Ron Hextall and before that, you’d have to go all the way back to Bernie Parent to find a superstar goaltender that had the talent to lead a team to a championship. But for once, the Flyers rode a stallion to the Stanley Cup final, as the Leighton-Boucher duo helped bring the team to their first final appearance since 1997.
The good? Leighton was second to Jaroslav Halak with a .916 save percentage in the playoffs and led the league with a 2.46 goals against average. Boucher was sixth with .909 and second with 2.47. So the two-headed monster indeed provided great goaltending.
The bad? During the regular season, Leighton was 33rd in the league with a .905 save percentage. Boucher was 43rd with .899, while Ray Emery had the same statistic as Leighton. One can argue that Boucher’s incredible performance in the shootout against the Rangers at the end of the season was the epitome of great goaltending. But another could argue that it was one of the only bright points of the Flyers’ goaltending throughout the season.
Will the Flyers see Goaltending 1.0 or Goaltending 2.0 this year as they try to defend their Eastern Conference title?
Watch out for…
Johan Backlund. Though he only played two-thirds of one game in the NHL before falling to injury, he looked good. His positioning was superb, he showed great speed and an acute sense for the game, including his angles and anticipating the shot and the pass. In that one game with the Flyers, Backlund posted a .917 save percentage. If Leighton and/or Boucher go down, look for Backlund to step it up when the spotlight is shining on him.
What’s the outlook?
Not too good. Though I’d like to believe, along with the rest of Flyers’ Nation, that the team’s backstoppers have all the talent needed to bring the Orange and Black back to the brink of a Stanley Cup, it seems crazy to believe it. Yes, Leighton and Boucher had great stats during the playoffs, but when you watch the tape again, notice the number of difficult shots each goaltender had to face – not many. The defence contributed more to the statistics than the goaltenders themselves. Of course, the defense could again keep the Wells Fargo Center open until June. But just ask Patrick Kane – eventually a poor goaltender will be shone up. Specfically when it matters the most.
Positioning: B+
Reflexes: C+
Speed: C+
Hockey Sense: B-
Game-saving ability: B-
So by now, if you've read my preview for the Flyers' offence this year, you may have been able to assess the team's overall rating. Let's see how close you were:
Forwards: A-
Defense: A
Goaltending: B-
Coaching: B+
Toughness: A-
Prediction: Lose in Eastern Conference Final
